


From Eden

by genevievedarcygranger



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angels, Angels vs. Demons, Apple of Eden, Character Study, Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley's Name is Crawly | Crawley (Good Omens), Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Fallen Angels, Good Demons, Hozier References, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This While Listening to Hozier's Music, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Inspired by a Hozier Song, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Other, POV Crowley (Good Omens), Pining, Scene: Garden of Eden (Good Omens), Short One Shot, Snake Crowley (Good Omens), Song: From Eden (Hozier), Temptation, Title from a Hozier Song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genevievedarcygranger/pseuds/genevievedarcygranger
Summary: Crowley’s nature has always been complicated, but what he wants is a little simpler than that.
Relationships: Adam from Eden/Eve (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Kudos: 22





	From Eden

_"I can resist everything except temptation."_

\- Lady Windermere's Fan, _Oscar Wilde_

* * *

Before he vaguely sauntered downward, Crawley had seen the Almighty's Creation, but only briefly. He hadn't really thought much of it, being very green and very blue. Crawley had instead put his eyes on the much bigger picture of the universe, but the Almighty insisted that Earth should play the center-stage for what was to come. Humans, crafted in Her image.

And there was the whole Satan business. Lots of jealousy. A war, if it could be called that. Crawley picked his side unintentionally. He dared to ask questions, to wonder why humans, what was so special about them? It wasn't that he was jealous as Satan and many others were. It was just that Crawley always wanted to know the bigger picture. But the Almighty blithely explained that everything happened for a reason, and that was that. Crawley's punishment was damnation, and his wings which were once as red as his hair, were forever more blackened.

At least he still had his wings. Some of the more violent demons weren't so lucky. But all of them were reduced, sort of de-evolved from their angelic forms into something twisted and nasty.

Several years from the Beginning, during the Enlightenment in Europe, a philosopher would propose a joining of science and Christianity to explain that the universe was one of an intelligent design. God is a watchmaker, the universe is a watch, and its only purpose is to tick until it stops ticking, driven by time. Whether or not God has a hand in fixing up the watch now and then is debatable, but most likely, God wound up the watch and let it go before going on his – really Her – merry way, or dying as some theorized.

In actuality, angels are more like clocks, beings of intelligent design with single purposes to orchestrate God's Ineffable Plan without question. Well, the Almighty also had a sense of humor, and so imbued the angels with traits similar to birds, hence the wings. A few of them had an affinity to fire, but with the rise of Hell, that mostly fell off, just like some wings fell off fallen angels on the way down.

And to differentiate between the angels and the demons, three traits emerged. Angels are like water, easily shaped to God's will, both a hindrance and a help to humanity depending on God's will. Demons are like fire, beings of destruction mostly, vengeful on Satan's behalf, but can also be useful tools to humanity in the right hands. Then there was the whole light and darkness color scheme. That's more obvious. But lastly, angels were like birds. They had to have wings to get to Heaven and conduct business, but demons were like reptiles, which were only a few steps away on an evolutionary scale from angels. Cousins, really, and they were. Humans are mammals. That's obvious.

* * *

Right, so Crawley, newly adjusting to his form, was sent to Eden. He was chosen out of all the demons because he was the only one who didn't have any ambition to overthrow Satan. Naturally, that made him a favorite.

So, desperate to get out of hell, Crawley crawled all the way up on his belly and pushed himself free of the Earth into the very center of the Garden of Eden. His instructions were vague, "Cause a bit of trouble."

 _"Crawley, you seem too weak to dare to even think of taking my throne, spineless worm. Go to Eden, be sneaky about it or be smited, I don't care which. But you observe God's new favorites. Cause a bit of trouble."_ Those were the exact words, actually, from Satan's lips.

Taking liberty, Crawley observed the humans for days, enjoying his time in the sunshine.

* * *

In those days, Crawley learned several things. For one, in his snake form, he found Eden to be very enjoyable. Compared to Heaven of course, Eden paled in comparison, but that was sort of like comparing apples to oranges. Sure, they're both fruits and beacons of paradise, but it depended on the tastes of the consumer. As a former angel, Crawley might've been a little biased towards Heaven, but as the days passed, he changed his mind. Eden was so green, so warm. There were flowers in bloom everywhere, and though he was a snake, he couldn't really smell them. But he liked their shape and their vivacity. They reminded him in a way of his stars. If he could've, he would've stayed here for as long as he could manage to get away with it. But he knew that that couldn't happen.

For another, he learned that these humans weren't as boring as he originally conceived. As he observed Adam and Eve frolic through Eden, breed as animals do, grow to love each other, feast on fruit, sleep when the moment struck them, swim through the streams and splash and play like children, Crawley reckoned that the Almighty had a point. Humans were special. But Crawley never felt jealous of them for anything other than the fact that they were so trusting. Adam and Eve were literally made for each other; they would never be alone.

Crawley had never felt more alone than when he was shunned from Heaven and the grace of the Almighty. He missed hearing Her voice.

* * *

Of course, Crawley also observed the one tree that the humans ignored to the best of their ability. It was an apple tree, the only one in the garden. At first, Crawley just assumed that maybe the apples were poisonous, but after an overheard conversation or two between the humans, he learned that it was only forbidden by the Almighty.

"What do you want to eat today, Eve?" Adam asked his wife as they lounged in their nakedness by the riverbed. They were pleasantly tired from exercising their new muscles, and their lungs heaved from holding their breath underwater for so long.

Lifting her head from the sandy bank, Eve turned to look at the apple tree, only looking. Before she could say anything, Adam reminded her, "That tree is forbidden, the only one. We cannot taste its fruit."

"I know." Eve turned her rounded eyes on Adam. "I'm not hungry right now. Maybe later?"

Incapable of anything other than happiness as a prince in Eden, Adam smiled at her. "Want to take a nap with me?" He patted his chest, urging her to come closer.

Not caring that the sand had stuck to her sweaty skin, Eve crawled on her hands and knees into Adam's embrace, and they fell asleep to the lullaby of each other's soft breaths and heartbeats, not even a cool breeze to ruffle the leaves of the trees, the water not running any faster than a whisper.

From the shadows, Crawley's golden eyes glowed with envy, and he had to quickly slither away before he did something so rash as bite their ankles.

 _Do not eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge._ The apple tree. It was Her only rule for them. And Crawley supposed that humans weren't so special after all.

* * *

But then there was the Principality, the angelic guard of the eastern gate. Crawley had been avoiding him at first, but after he learned of the importance of the tree, he had wound himself around its branches, investigating. He was still getting used to this new body, and heights, which before were never scary, were now…challenging.

"Oh, hullo there!"

Crawley nearly lost his grip on the branch. As it is, he twisted until he could see that the angel was nearly nose to nose with him. For an angel, he was beautiful, in a human form so as to not upset Adam and Eve, but he certainly wasn't the pinnacle of perfection. Crawley liked him better for that, for the roundness of his face and the pink of his cheeks from standing in the sun for too long.

"Aren't you a beauty? Well, all of the Almighty's creations are beautiful as designed, but I think you might be one of the best," the angel gushed, wiggling his fingers at him, but not yet touching him. Crawley then realized that the angel did not recognize he was a demon. To be fair, Crawley hadn't really worked up any sort of demonic presence yet. More or less, he was neutral until he actually did something bad.

Still smiling at him gently, the corners of his eyes pinched into wrinkles, the angel spoke again, "Well, as pretty as you are, I need to move you. You see, this tree is strictly off limits, and while I don't think that applies to you, one can never be too careful." His hands were pleasantly warm as he scooped Crawley against his chest. In his surprise, Crawley flailed, and then quickly calmed down so the angel wouldn't drop him.

The angel carried him away to another tree and took the time to help him get his footing, of a sort, around a new branch. "There you go! Now, do be careful! I don't think you're a troublemaker, but I know your kind is a little carnivorous, and sometimes poisonous. Just avoid the humans and you'll be fine." He patted the top of Crawley's head. "My name is Aziraphale. I'll see you around the garden, little snake. Enjoy!"

As Crawley watched him leave, he realized that the angel – Aziraphale – had left his flaming sword lying carelessly to the side. At any point in his guard duty, Aziraphale could have just lopped his head off to get him away from the tree. His kindness was astounding, and Crawley never forgot it.

* * *

After the whole temptation business was done, Crawley only ran into Aziraphale here and there with years and years between. The more frequent their run-ins, the more Crawley – now Crowley – grew to like Aziraphale. But he also found himself desperate to recreate Eden. Where Aziraphale found his home in a bookshop, surrounded by humans and knowledge, Crowley kept an indoor garden. Indoors because he couldn't stand to leave the plants to powers beyond his control, and also indoors because this was his only source of privacy. Perhaps his obsession with Eden sprang from the fact that it was where Aziraphale first accepted Crowley's true nature. By now, Crowley knew that if Aziraphale had kept his flaming sword, he would not have harmed him. The angel was special that way.

Where Aziraphale was always a welcoming host, Crowley was tied to movement, unrestful. It was one reason why he loved his car, always on the move. It was difficult for him to find a true home after being kicked out of his first, and he didn't exactly fit into Hell with the others, which he didn't mind. His best moments of rest were always with Aziraphale, usually at parks in the sunshine, where Crowley could almost pretend that he was not a demon and Aziraphale was not quite an angel. In the park, they could be just like the humans, together and not alone. Perhaps even husband and husband as Adam and Eve were husband and wife so long ago in Eden.


End file.
